Without prejudice to Articles 51, 52 and 53, vehicles for which whole-vehicle type-approval is mandatory, or for which the manufacturer has obtained that type-approval, shall only be made available on the market, registered or enter into service if they are accompanied by a valid certificate of conformity issued in accordance with Articles 36 and 37.

Registration and entry into service of incomplete vehicles may be refused as long as the vehicles remain incomplete. Registration and entry into service of incomplete vehicles shall not be used to circumvent the application of Article 49.

The number of vehicles produced in small series that are made available on the market, are registered, or enter into service in the course of the same year shall not exceed the quantitative annual limits laid down in Annex V.

Subject to the limits specified in Part B of Annex V, and for a limited period of time as specified in paragraph 2, Member States may register and permit the making available on the market or entry into service of vehicles conforming to a type of vehicle whose EU type-approval is no longer valid.

The first subparagraph shall apply only to vehicles within the territory of the Union which were covered by a valid EU type-approval at the time of their production and which had not been registered or entered into service before that EU type-approval lost its validity.

Paragraph 1 shall only apply, in the case of complete vehicles, for a period of 12 months from the date on which validity of the EU type-approval expired and, in the case of completed vehicles, for a period of 18 months from that date.

A manufacturer who wishes to benefit from paragraph 1 shall submit a request to the competent authority of each Member State concerned by the registration or the entry into service of the vehicles in question. The request shall specify any technical or economic reasons preventing those vehicles from complying with the new technical requirements.

The Member States concerned shall decide, within three months of receiving such a request, whether to permit the registration or the entry into service of those vehicles within their territory, and if so, the number of such vehicles.

Member States shall apply appropriate measures to ensure that the number of vehicles to be registered or entered into service in the framework of the procedure set out in this Article is effectively monitored.

Components and separate technical units, including those intended for the aftermarket, may only be made available on the market or entered into service if they comply with the requirements of the relevant regulatory acts listed in Annex II and are marked in accordance with Article 38.

Paragraph 1 shall not apply to components or separate technical units that are specifically constructed or designed for vehicles that are not covered by this Regulation.

Member States may permit the making available on the market or the entry into service of components and separate technical units that are exempted under Article 39 or that are to be used on vehicles covered by approvals granted under Article 41, 42, 44 and 45 concerning the component or separate technical unit in question.

Member States may also permit the making available on the market or the entry into service of components and separate technical units to be used on vehicles that were not required to be type-approved under this Regulation or under Directive 2007/46/EC at the time those vehicles were made available on the market, were registered, or entered into service.

Member States may also permit the making available on the market or the entry into service of replacement components and separate technical units to be used on vehicles to which type-approval was granted before the entry into force of the requirements of the relevant regulatory acts listed in Annex II, in accordance with the requirements of the relevant act that applied when those type-approvals were originally granted.